Douglas Estate

The Douglas story and the family’s stewardship of the Estate goes back nearly 1,000 years.

William Douglas (circa 1174) is the first reference to the Douglas’s name in the family tree, which he is said to have taken from “the Douglas Water” which still runs through the heart of the Douglas Estate today. His son and heir, Archibald, married Margaret, the daughter of Sir John Crawford of Crawfordjohn, which firmly “roots” the family in the area that it still owns today – nearly 800 years later.

The period between 1200 and 1488 was a turbulent time in Scottish history, particularly in the Borders, where there was continual unrest both within Scotland itself and with its English neighbours.

Notwithstanding the turbulent times Douglas and Crawfordjohn were, even then, famed for their sport, principally red deer and wild boar - the lure of which regularly drew Edward I of England over the Border to hunt in the area.

The fortunes of the Estates ebbed and flowed with each generation from Sir William Douglas, “The Good Sir James”, the 2nd. Earl of Douglas “Hero of Otterburn”, William 8th Earl of Douglas (probably the most powerful of all and, as a result), murdered by King James at Stirling Castle, bringing with it the demise of the Black Douglas and the rise of the Red Douglas and the Earls of Angus.

Lord Douglas (4th Earl of Angus) and his son Archibald “bell the cat” lived through a period of history that was no more settled with the Douglas Family again firmly embedded at the heart of Scottish politics and the unrest, of the 16th and 17th Centuries.

In 1689 James, Earl of Angus, raised the Cameronian Regiment at Braidlea in Douglas, later to be known as the Scottish Rifles - the Regiment served both their Country and County for 300 years before being disbanded at Douglas in 1968.

In 1703 Archibald, who engaged Robert Adam to rebuild Douglas Castle, was created Duke of Douglas, a title that was to become extinct in 1761, when the Estates passed through the female line to Archibald Stewart Douglas (created Lord Douglas of Douglas in 1790) and, then again, through the female line to Lucy Elizabeth Montagu Douglas who (in 1832) married the 11th Earl of Home – uniting the families of Douglas and Home.

During eight Centuries, Douglas Castle has been sieged, destroyed, burnt down, repeatedly re-built, and finally demolished in 1938 – leaving behind it only the proud remains of Castle Dangerous (built circa 1457) as a testament to the amazing resilience of the House of Douglas.

The remarkable story of the Douglas family and their Estates were very aptly summed up by Sir Herbert Maxwell.

“One remarkable feature distinguishes the Douglas Family from other Scottish families of equal antiquity. Despite repeated forfeitures, personal vicissitudes, the lands which gave this Family their name still remain in the possession of their descendents. Five and twenty generations of the Douglas have born the Lordship of that dale for eight Centuries between William, the Douglas, the first recorded of that name, down to the present Earl of Home, Lord Douglas of Douglas, who represents the House in the female line.”